1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imaging system integrating a detector and a display therein, and method thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Detectors and displays have been widely used in numerous applications to obtain imagery from a scene and display either the imagery or other relevant data to an observer.
Various stand-alone detectors have been developed to detect radiation and/or energy in the visual and/or infrared wavebands. In addition, various stand-alone displays have been developed to display any and all relevant data to an observer.
In some applications, it is advantageous to combine a detector and a display to create an imaging system. Imaging systems generally require readout and processing circuitry to convert analog signals into digital signals. Imaging systems also generally require processing and driver circuitry to convert the digital signals into a signal or set of signals suitable to drive the display. Due to the nature of detectors, having a plurality of pixels to detect imagery, and due to the nature of displays, having a plurality of pixels to display imagery, conventional systems multiplex the signals transferred from the detector to a processor and/or correction circuitry for processing and demultiplex the processed signals to the display and/or display driver. Multiplexing circuitry may include column amplifiers, sample and hold circuitry, output drivers and clocking circuitry. Demultiplexer circuitry may include similar circuitry. In addition, conventional systems require electronics and cables external to the detector and display to provide the functionality of these various circuits. Accordingly, a conventional imaging system generally requires a detector package, a display package, external processing/amplification circuitry and cables and interconnections between the detector package and the external processing/amplification circuitry. In addition, the detector package may be required to perform driving and correction of gain and DC offset functions.
The resulting conventional imaging system is relatively large and may not be suitable for applications where size, weight, power, cost and/or complexity of the system must be minimal.